OCLC recognized for exemplary workplace practices

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 10 October 2012—OCLC has been honored with the 2012 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility for its use of flexibility as an effective workplace strategy to increase business and employee success.

This prestigious award, part of the national When Work Works project administered by the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management, recognizes employers of all sizes and types across the country. It is the second consecutive year that OCLC has been recognized with the Sloan Award.

Based in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC is a nonprofit library service and research organization that provides computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, preservation, library management and Web services to thousands of libraries around the world. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide have created and maintain WorldCat, the world’s most comprehensive resource for finding library materials.

"For many years, OCLC has been a leader in promoting workplace flexibility, telecommuting, part-time work options and compressed work weeks," said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. "These innovative approaches have worked well for our staff, and for the OCLC cooperative. This prestigious award reinforces our commitment to make OCLC an ideal place to work for all employees."

Workplace flexibility—such as flextime, part-time work and compressed workweeks—has been demonstrated to help businesses remain competitive while also benefiting employees.

The Sloan Awards are unique for their rigorous, two-step selection process, which involves an evaluation of employers' flexibility programs and practices, and a confidential employee survey. All applicants are measured against national norms from the National Study of Employers.

"As a recipient of the 2012 Sloan Award, OCLC ranks in the top 20 percent of employers nationally in terms of its programs, policies and culture for creating an effective and flexible workplace," said Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute. "In addition, what makes this honor so special is that their employees have corroborated this, affirming that it is indeed an effective and flexible workplace."

When Work Works is a national project to educate the business community on the value of workplace flexibility by sharing research and promising practices, and conducting the annual Sloan Awards. It is an ongoing initiative of the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management.

For more information about the When Work Works project and the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility, visit www.whenworkworks.org.

About OCLC

Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

OCLC, WorldCat and WorldCat.org are trademarks and/or service marks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners.